


Just the Three of Us (We can make it if we try)

by sullacat



Series: Little Hero (the bb Spock series) [3]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-17
Updated: 2011-04-17
Packaged: 2017-10-18 06:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/185966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Making a family is more than just making it legal. (3/8 in series)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just the Three of Us (We can make it if we try)

**Author's Note:**

> For my [Schmoop Bingo card:](http://sullacat.livejournal.com/92694.html) baby - adoption.
> 
> No infringement intended, no profit made

_[+ 3 months from 'Little Boy Blue'; Spock ~= one year old]_

Just because paperwork wasn't done on paper anymore didn't make filling out forms any less frustrating. Worse... there were questions on here that Jim simply didn't want to think about, much less answer. Personal demons he liked to forget about, family ties that were strained or non-existent. Questions that reminded him of all that he’d lost in his less than spectacular childhood, times in his life he didn't want to remember, much less explain to someone.

Jim felt like a bad person when he thought about Sam. What did that say, not knowing where your own brother lived - hell, if he was even alive. Things like this official paperwork made that particular hurt ache a little more, opened it back up and rubbed it raw. The juvenile legal record, the incidents with Frank, all the run-ins with the police - none of that felt like him anymore.

Then there was the whole Tarsus incident, something that no one really wanted to know about, but that everyone just had to ask. Sighing as he looked at the computer terminal, Jim tried to answer the questions succinctly, not giving away everything - all the while cognizant of the fact that the people reading this made the determination on his suitability as a parent, even a temporary one.

"Shit." Reviewing the form when he finished the last question, Jim had to wonder... if _he_ were in the adoption board's shoes, would he would let someone with _this_ personal history on his application adopt a kid?

There were few reasons Jim would try and explain so much of his life to a stranger, but then Spock looked up from his crib, the one he'd slept in since that night they brought him home. Using the crib rail, the little boy pulled himself to standing and held up his round, soft arms (his signal that he was ready to be picked up) and Jim knew this was one of those times when the hurt was worth it.

 

"I still don't get it," Bones said that night as they ate dinner together, after Jim tried to explain what he'd worked on that day. His reticence was understandable - Jim knew that Bones had things in his past that he’d rather not be brought up again, his own personal (and well-documented) demons.

"It's us or Nyota, and she-" Jim shook his head. He understood her position, but there were still weird feelings between them every time she came by to spend some time with baby Spock. Part of him thought that if the situations were reversed, _he'd_ want to be the one to take care of Bones, make sure he was cared for, safe and protected. But then again, he wasn't the one in that position... and the idea of being Bones' father and not his husband didn't sit well inside.

Watching Bones feeding tiny Spock in his highchair, pushing another spoonful of vegetable goo into Spock's mouth, was getting more and more normal for Jim. "He has us, and I want to keep it that way," he said, grinning at the little boy, his eyes laser-focused on the spoon as Bones held it out in front of him, little feet kicking against the table.

"I'm still not sure why all this is necessary," Bones answered, dropping a couple pieces of banana onto the tabletray. “Eat this,” he said to Spock, who reached for the fruit with surprisingly dexterous, if chubby, fingers. “He's growing like a weed, gonna be himself in a couple years. Aren't you growing like a weed," he said in a cooing voice to Spock, who smiled back at Bones, reaching for his face.

Jim hoped so. “For the time being, I want everything concerning his well-being and custody laid out, good and legal. No one else is getting him."Jim said, his voice suddenly tighter than normal.

“Done.”

“Finish your banana,” Bones told Spock, before looking worried as his eyes found Jim’s. "Jim, what's going on?"

The communique from T’Pau had been short but important, all the more worrying for its brevity. “He has a brother, an older half-brother who showed up at the colony after Sarek's death. I don't know what his story is, but its not good.” Jim looked down, pushing food around his plate. “I don't want to take any chances with him coming after Spock, laying some claim to him.”

Spock picked up the last of the banana bits in his tiny fist, carefully putting it in his mouth and chewing slowly. “Done,” he looked at Jim, raising his hands up in the air.

"Done," Jim chuckled as he lifted the toddler out of his seat and put him on the ground. They laughed as they watched Spock ambling toward the replicator. “No, no, young man. You have had enough for today.”

“Pudding.”

“No," Jim told him, standing up to pick up the plates as Bones cleaned the high chair.

" _Ameelah._ "

Jim laughed. " _Ina_ ,” he replied in perfect Vulcan. “Time for bath,” he said, amused as Spock ran off, trying to hide somewhere in their suite of rooms in what was becoming a daily ritual of hide and seek. Scooping the laughing child up in his arms, he could feel how strong the little boy was getting. A year old, more or less, a toddler rather than a baby. Growing so fast.

On his way to the bathroom Jim spotted Bones at the computer terminal, pulling up the adoption forms that Jim had begun, so he could fill them out as well. He stopped, Spock still in his arms and dropped a kiss on Bones’ forehead. “Thank you.”

But Bones just shook his head. “Its the right thing to do.” Lifting a finger up to Spock, he grinned at the little finger pressed back against his own. “Such rambly thoughts when he’s tired,” he grinned, rubbing his little head and touching his pointed ear. “Bathtime, Spock-kan. Be a good boy for your daddy.”

 

Bathtime consisted of washing and scrubbing and singing Vulcan songs and doing basic math questions, numbers written in the suds on against the tile of their converted shower/bathtub. It amazed Jim how early in childhood the Vulcans began working on these math and science skills, but when he saw how quickly Spock picked up the calculations, the pride the little boy showed in his work when he got a correct answer - Jim could see the beginnings of that logical genius at work and knew that keeping that bubbling mind busy was a task he wanted to undertake.

Soon they would have to work on his emotional control, and something deep inside Jim mourned the idea of losing this happy little boy to the stoic child he would need to become. But that was part of the deal with Spock's Vulcan relatives and the High Council. He lived on board with them only if they raised Spock in his own culture, kept to the Vulcan ways - in as much as two Terran males possibly could.

Getting Spock ready for bed was the best part of Jim's day, the three of them all engaged in their nightly routine of brushing teeth and sliding on warm pajamas and a bedtime story or song, depending on what Spock wanted that night. Jim had never realized what a good voice Bones had until he'd caught him singing to Spock one evening, songs from his own childhood, which led to conversations between the two of them about what life had been like growing up. That led to other conversations, honest talk that made Jim love his Bones even more.

Raising Spock was bring them closer together in a way Jim had never anticipated, and for that, among so many other reasons, Jim was completely grateful, and hoped he could tell Spock this one day, when he was grown. But for right now, he was just enjoying spending time with his fascinating little boy.


End file.
